Kiss & Tell
by cruiseaholic
Summary: oneshot. "and when the clock strikes twelve, will you find another boy to go kiss and tell?" for haritha.


For Haritha (cela fille) as part of the Secret Santa Fic Exchange. Merry Christmas! :)

**Kiss & Tell  
****  
**_"and when the clock strikes twelve,  
will you find another boy to go kiss and tell?"_

_  
_

"Well? What do you think?" Layne Abeley asked, twirling in front of the mirror. "Is is nice enough for the Blocks' Christmas party?"

"I'm liking the little black dress...but I'm not sure metallic gold tube socks are considered 'black tie,'" Claire Lyons informed her, biting back a laugh.

"Well I think they're festive," Layne replied, sticking her tongue out. "And they match my gold eye shadow," she added, fluttering her eyelashes at Claire.

"Well I guess if they match your eye makeup then they're perfectly fine," she replied sarcastically.

"Oh, lighten up Claire. What are they going to do, kick me out of the party because they don't like my socks?"

"Well..." Claire thought of Massie Block, who had a reputation for excluding and humiliating people on a daily basis.

"My point exactly. Now come on, let's go down to the party before all the cheese cubes are gone."

Claire rolled her eyes at Layne's latest food obsession but followed her down the stairs anyway.

"Hey Todd!" she called, pausing in the doorway of her little brother's bedroom. "We're leaving. You ready to go?"

"Yup," he answered, jumping up from the desk chair he had been sitting in and joining Claire and Layne in the hallway. "Think Massie will like my tie?"

"Sure," Claire replied absent-mindedly, glancing at her reflection in the window and wondering if Massie would approve of how _she_ was dressed, in the new baby blue cowl-neck sweater dress she was wearing over white tights.

The three proceeded out the door and across the lawn to the main building, where the party was being held. Their ears were met with the soft strains of subdued Christmas music as Inez opened the door for them and let them in.

Claire suddenly found herself alone as Layne ("I'm going to find those cheese cubes") and Todd ("I told Nathan I'd meet up with him") took off, disappearing into the crowd of party goers. Trying to appear confident, she made her way through the packed entrance hall into the living room. Not sure what else to do with herself, she took a seat on the vacant love seat opposite the fireplace and watched the flames dance in place, rising and falling in a mixture of reds, oranges, and yellows that cast a warm glow on the glossy oak flooring.

"Is the fire really that fascinating?" came a voice from behind her, and Claire abruptly looked away, turning to face the person who had spoken. Derrick Harrington stood at the edge of the coach, his shaggy blonde dusted with red and silver confetti (presumably courtesy of one of his rambunctious friends) and his hands clutching a balled up piece of purple stationary. Claire would bet anything that he held a note from his on-again, off-again, currently on-again girlfriend Massie.

"Not really," Claire admitted.

"Works for me." Derrick plopped down on the couch next to her and cupped his face in his hands, staring intently at the fireplace.

Claire laughed. "What are you doing?"

"Appreciating nature," he answered matter-of-factly.

"No, really. Why are sitting here with me? Don't you have something else you should be doing?"

"Yeah." Derrick frowned down at the crumpled note in his lap.

"Girlfriend problems?" Claire guessed.

"I'm supposed to meet Massie under the mistletoe," he confessed, smoothing out the note so that Claire could read the words written in Massie's familiar cursive script.

"That takes care of 'girlfriend,' but what's the problem?"

"She didn't give me this note because _she_ wants to see _me_," Derrick explained. "She gave me this note because she wants everyone else to see _us_."

Claire shrugged. "I guess that's Massie for you."

"Yeah," Derrick agreed glumly.

The two sat on the sofa in silence for a few moments until one of the roaming waiters the Blocks' had hired for the occasion approached them with a tray loaded with champagne flutes containing a beige sparkling liquid.

"Apple cider?" the waiter offered. Wordlessly they each took one.

"Come on," Derrick said after the waiter had left. "Let's go rejoin the party. At least that way I can pretend I'm looking for Massie." Claire nodded in agreement, and the two stood up from the couch and walked back out into the entrance hall. Massie stood at the foot of the stairs underneath a small clump of mistletoe, but she wasn't alone.

"Looks like Todd found her first," Claire giggled, watching as her little brother snuck up behind Massie and tapped her on the shoulder. Just as the brunette turned around to see who it was, Todd jumped up and planted a quick kiss on her lips. Massie let out a strangled cry of fury and reached for his throat, but Todd was too quick for her.

"I KISSED MASSIE BLOCK!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he sprinted away from her.

"Get back here, you little twerp!" Massie screamed as she took off after him.

"Thank God for Todd," Derrick laughed, raising his glass up in a toast as the freckle-faced red-head ran by, closely followed by the raging brunette.

"Yeah." Claire smiled up at him. "Thank God for Todd."


End file.
